Madison — Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday embraced a move to ban abortion after 20 weeks after repeatedly declining to spell out where he stood on the issue in last year's re-election campaign.

It is the latest example of Walker downplaying a major issue until after being re-elected and climbing to the top tier of likely 2016 presidential candidates. Walker did not campaign on plans to spin off the University of Wisconsin System as a public authority and now says he will sign so-called right-to-work legislation even though he insisted for years he would keep the measure from reaching his desk.

Wisconsin Right to Life has touted as its top priority legislation that has yet to be introduced that would prevent women from seeking abortions in most cases after 20 weeks.(138)

If Park Bank is liable for not spotting Sujata "Sue" Sachdeva's $34 million embezzlement from Koss Corp. and has to reimburse the company, Koss Chief Executive Michael Koss should also be ordered to personally pay the public company he runs, the bank argues in a new lawsuit.

Grant Thornton, Koss Corp.'s former auditor, should also have to pay a portion of any award that may be ordered, Park Bank argued in the latest twist in a long-running court fight stemming from Sachdeva's massive embezzlement.

"Park Bank denies any and all liability to Koss in this case," the bank said in its action. "Nevertheless, should Park Bank be found liable to Koss (Corp.) and required to pay damages to Koss, in this case, those damages will have been the result of a common liability of Park Bank, Michael Koss and Grant Thornton, thereby entitling Park Bank to (a) contribution from Michael Koss and Grant Thornton."(10)

Wisconsin’s April 3 election is the first time in 32 years that Republicans in this state will get to vote in a truly competitive GOP presidential primary.

Yet for many in the party here, the real action lies elsewhere.

Like everything else about politics in Wisconsin, the Republican presidential race is operating under the giant shadow of the recall fight over Gov. Scott Walker.

“People back home really are not very much into (the primary), which I think is kind of unfortunate,” says Jim Sensenbrenner, who represents the most Republican congressional district in Wisconsin. “The political types are all zeroed in on the recall.”

The fixation of the Wisconsin political world on the battle over Gov. Walker means the party’s presidential candidates will be parachuting into a unique political environment. (Rick Santorum arrives Saturday, with Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich expected at some point next week).

It’s a world in which most of the energy, effort, attention and money has been monopolized by a June gubernatorial election, the culmination of more than a year of all-consuming political strife.

There is the Walker recall fight-- and everything else.

“It’s kind of unique. You have the recall situation sucking all the political air out of the room, not only for the presidential race but for the US Senate race,” said state GOP vice-chair Brian Schimming, referring to a hard-fought, four-way Republican Senate primary that will be settled in August.

The recall battle “has in many ways distracted from the presidential election,” says GOP consultant Brian Nemoir, who says it sometimes feels as if “no one is really paying attention to this thing.”

Nemoir thinks this adds uncertainty to the duel between Santorum and frontrunner Mitt Romney. Wisconsin voters are highly activated, but about a different election.

“You have this big undecided vote,” says Sensenbrenner.

For the candidates, it means wading into a very polarizing state-level debate.

“If a candidate is asked, ‘What do you think about Scott Walker?’ and they hedge for one iota below 100 percent (support) – nobody is dumb enough to do that,” said Schimming.

Romney fielded his first Wisconsin media question about Walker during an interview Wednesday with conservative Milwaukee radio host Mark Belling.

“I support him and support his efforts,” Romney said. “I have no reason to be critical of any of the steps or the process that he has pursued because I’m frankly not there and in his position. So I can only tell you that I think his effort to try and rein in the excesses and to try to give the state a more solid financial footing makes a great deal of sense and I support him."

But while embracing Walker is a political no-brainer for the GOP contestants, handling the broader debate over unions could be a little trickier, given the party’s desire to win Wisconsin in November, when more than a quarter of the voters are likely to come from union households.

Romney and Santorum have already skirmished in earlier primaries over union issues, with Romney ripping his rival for voting against a national right-to-work bill in the Senate. A Romney spokesman said he expects that issue to come up again in Wisconsin.

The top Republican and central figure in the Wisconsin saga, Gov. Walker, hasn’t taken sides in the nominating fight, nor have most well-known Republicans in the state. Given the governor’s sky-high support from GOP voters, a Walker endorsement could have an impact, since many voters don’t have strong attachments to the candidates.

“I’ve never seen any less engagement” in a presidential primary, said longtime activist Bob Dohnal, a Santorum supporter and publisher of the Wisconsin-based Conservative Digest.

“There isn’t a geographic frontrunner, there isn’t an ideological frontrunner,” said Nemoir.

Another endorsement that could influence conservative voters is that of House budget chair Paul Ryan, but Ryan has said his fundraising role for the national party requires him to stay neutral.

In an interview this week, Ryan said he heard very little chatter about the presidential primary on his last swing through his southern Wisconsin district.

“I did some Cub Scout and church outings this weekend. Nobody really talks about it. It’s all ‘recall,’” said Ryan, who said he thinks that will change when the candidates arrive and the contest heats up.

The Wisconsin Voter is a blog about elections, political trends and public opinion in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. It is less about politicians than the people who elect them. It’s aimed at political junkies and general readers alike. Its subjects include:

The role this state and region play as electoral battlegrounds.

Voting patterns and trends at the local, state and regional level.

What makes voters here different from voters in other places.

Public opinion and the election climate.

Craig Gilbert is the Journal Sentinel's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief and national political reporter.

Charting how each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties has trended politically compared to the U.S. as a whole over 60 years of presidential voting. Use the pull down menu to see charts for individual counties. Click here for an explanation of how the charts were done and how to read them.